Eight people have been injured after a school bus crashed into a ditch in the South Island's Shenandoah region.
A police spokeswoman said four rescue helicopters have been sent to the scene.
Nine people were on the bus.
Police received a report at 4.20pm of a bus crashing into a ditch off the Shenandoah Highway in Shenandoah, near Murchison.
The nearest cross-streets are Maruia Saddle Rd and Pea Soup Rd, she said.